Guide for use in driving sheet piling



March 23, 1937. A. H. HAUSLER 2,074,906

GUIDE FOR USE IN DRIVING SHEET PILING March 23, 1937. A. H. HAUsLl-:R2,074,906

GUIDE FOR. USE IN DRIVING SHEET FILING Original Filed May 14, 1954 2Sheets-Sheet 2 QQWSHJYQMSW Patented Mar. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE Original application May 14, 1934, Serial No. 725,491. Dividedand this application April 25, 1935, Serial No. 18,152

10 Claims.'

'I'his invention relates to an improved guide member for use in drivingsheet piling, such as the interlocking sheet piling which is commonlyemployed in forming breakwaters, coer-dams and the like, and the presentapplication is a division of my co-pending application, Serial No.725,491, filed May 14, 1934, now Patent 2,057,947 of October 20, 1936,in which there is described and claimed an improved method of drivingsheet piling to form such structures, according to which sheet piles areinterlocked with each other to form a plurality of separate panels orsections which are then moved to the place where they are to be drivenand spaced apart along their lateral edges in vertical positions to beconnected by intermediate connecting sheet piles preliminary to drivingall of the piles into the bed of the river or harbor in which thestructure is to be formed. In the practice of thatimproved method, theseparate panels or sections of sheet piling are spaced apart by clampsor spacing devices which form the subject-matter of my co-pendingapplication, Serial No. 17,401, led April 25, 1935, and these spacingdevices which detachably engage the lateral edges of the panels areremoved prior to or during the process of driving the intermediateconnecting sheet piles which secure adjacent panels together.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improvedguide member adapted to be mounted upon the upper ends of adjacent sheetpiles which are spaced apart and which are to be connected by anintermediate sheet pile and the function of the guide member is todirect the intermediate sheet pile into proper interlocking engagementwith the spaced piles to be connected thereby at the commencement of theoperation of driving the intermediate pile. A further object of theinvention is to provide an improved guide member adapted to bedetachably mounted upon the upper end of a sheet pile for directing thelateral edges of two sheet piles into proper interlocking engagementwith each other when one pile is driven with respect to the other. Stillanother object of the invention is to provide an improved guide memberhaving parts for detachably engaging a pile and having a projectingguide portion adapted to coact with one of the interlocking parts of anadjacent sheet pile when the latter pile is brought into engagement withthe pile in which the guide member is mounted. Other objects relate tovarious features of construction and arrangement which will appear morefully hereinafter.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the followingspecication taken with the accompanying drawings,.in which oneembodiment is illustrated.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 shows an enlarged vertical section through a portion of abreakwater or the like illustrating the method of driving sheet pilingaccording to the invention of applicant's said original application andillustrating the use of the improved guide member of the presentinvention;

Fig. 2 shows an enlarged horizontal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1,illustrating two of the guide members of the present invention which areemployed for guiding a connecting pile when this pile is driven intointerlocking engagement with the end piles of two adjacent sections orpanels;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the improved guide members of thepresent invention; and

Fig. 4 shows an elevation of one of the guide members illustrated inFig. 2, together with p0rtions of the adjacent sheet piles.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings there is shown a portion of a breakwater I 5which is being constructed according to applicants invention by drivinga left of Fig. 1, there is shown a portion of the side wall 20c of oneof the sections of the breakwater and this side wall is connected to anopposite side wall by a transverse wall 20h, all of these walls beingformed of similar sheet piles which interlock with each other at theiredges. At the junction of the side wall section with the transverse wallsection, there is a connecting sheet pile 2| of triangular cross-sectionhaving a ilange which is adapted to interlock with the side wall of thenext adjacent breakwater section, which is shown as being in the processof construction, by the driving of two adjacent panels 2l)e each formedof a series of interlocking sheet piles IS. Each pile I6 comprisesalongitudinal at web lliel united at each edgewith a curved portion IGb,as shown in Fig. 2, and these curved portions are united with integrallyformed hook members I6c and guard. members Ild. With this construction,there is provided at each edge of each pile a 1ongitudinal groove orrecess I 6e which is adapted to be engaged by the hook member of thenext adjacent, and reversely arranged, pile I6 when two piles areinterlocked with each other.

In order that the piles I6 forming a panel 20e may be held in assembledrelationship with respect to each other while the panel is being movedfrom the place of assembly to the place where the piles are to bedriven, and to hold the panel in the desired shape, the various pilesmaking up the panel are preferably secured to a channel-shaped bar 22which is provided with a series of projecting wedge-bolts 22a adapted toengage apertures if which are formed in the webs of the piles,preferably adjacent the upper ends thereof. The bar 22 is adapted toseat against the webs of alternate sheet piles and when the wedge-bolts22a, which are preferably welded to the bar, have been inserted throughthe apertures lf, the wedges or keys 22b are inserted through slots inthe wedge-bolts, thus holding the sheet piles in place against the bar.The keys 22b are preferably carried by chains 22d which are attached tothe upper ange of the bar 22 so that the keys are always in readinessfor use. After a section or panel of interlocking sheet piling has beenput in place, the keys 22b are removed and the bar 22 is taken away fromthe piles preliminary to driving the piles.

Assuming that a new section of the breakwater is about to be formed, afloating raft 23 is placed against the end wall 2l)b of the breakwatersection which has previously been formed and the panels 20e which are toconstitute one side wall of the next breakwater section are placed inposition against the edge of the rait, which has a horizontalcross-section corresponding to the shape of the breakwater section to beformed. This raft is secured to the previously formed breakwater sectionand serves as a platform upon which the workmen may stand during theprocess of driving the piles which make up the panels 20e. When thepanels 20e have been formed, they are placed in position along the edgeof the raft with their lower edges resting on the bottom and one or moreof the piles which are not secured to the bar 22 may be driven slightlyinto the bed of the river or harbor to assist in holding each panel inplace. When these panels 2lie are thus put in place along the edge ofthe raft, they are spaced apart from each other and from the cornerpiles 2l distances which are each equal to the width of one sheet pileI6 and they are held in this spaced relation around the raft 50 by meansof spacing devices or clamps 30 which are detachably secured to thelateral edges of adjacent sheet piles and which constitute thesubject-matter of my said co-pending application y Serial No. 17,401,led April 20, 1935. After the 55 spacing devices 3, which may be formedof cast, forged or rolled steel, are put in place to space adjacent wallsections or panels from each other and to space the inner side panelfrom the adjacent corner pile 2l, the wall sections 20e con- 60 form tothe curvature of the edge of the raft 23 and all of the piles IB occupyvertical positions in readiness for driving. Before these piles aredriven, the detachable spacing devices 30 are removed and may be placedupon the raft. As the `65 spacing devices 30 are detached and removedfrom the spaced sheet piles which have been connected thereby, anothersheet pile I6 is inserted in interlocking engagement with the spacedsheet piles which have previously been connected by those o spacingdevices and one such sheet pile is inserted in the space between theedge of one panel and the adjacent corner pile 2l. This operationrequires the elevation of the intermediate or connecting sheet piles I6,which are to occupy these 75 spaces, until their lower ends are capableof engaging the longitudinal grooves of the sheet piles which are to beconnected by them. In Fig. l, these connecting sheet piles are shown bydotted lines and one or these sheet piles is shown as occupying anelevated position which permits its lower end to be passed intointerlocking engagement with the panels I6 which constitute the edgepiles of the two adjacent panels 20.

To facilitate the passing of a connecting pile into interlockingengagement with two adjacent spaced piles, a pair of guide members 40,constructed according to the present invention, are detachably mountedupon the upper ends of the previously positioned piles for guiding thenew pile into interlocking engagement with the spaced piles. These guidemembers 40 are of the form shown particularly in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 andinclude right-hand and left-hand guide members for engaging the oppositeedges of the same sheet pile. Each guide member comprises a horizontalbar lilla having a handle 401 projecting from the upper side thereof andhaving enlargements 40C at its ends from which project downwardly twopairs of spaced legs 60d. At one end, the bar 4)a is provided with ahook-shaped member 40e projecting from one of the enlargements 40C andconstructed to conform to the shape and curvature of the guard members IEd which are formed along the edges or' the sheet pile I6. The guidemembers 40 are put in place on the upper ends of the previouslyassembled and spaced piles I6 with the legs 46d straddling the portionsI6a and 1Gb of the sheet piles, as shown in Fig. 2. Since the guidemembers 40 of each pair are constructed as right-hand and left-handmembers, the guide fingers 40e on opposite guide members will bedirected toward each other and they will be positioned directly abovethe guard members of the sheet piles and will form stops against whichthe hook members I6c of the piles to be driven may be placed, asV shownin Figs. 2 and 4. Then, upon moving the intervening sheet piledownwardly, the portions 40 of the guide members 40 serve as guides todirect the hook members I6c of the pile into engagement with the slots16e of the spaced piles at the ends of the panels which have previouslybeen positioned. When the connecting sheet pile has been drivendownwardly from the position shown by dotted lines at the upperright-hand portion of Fig. 1 until it interlocks with the sheet piles atthe edges of adjacent panels, it will form a permanent connectionbetween those panels and all of the sheet piles of these panels'may thenbe driven into the bed of the river or harbor in which the breakwater orother structure is being formed.

Although one form of the invention has been shown and described by wayof illustration, it will be understood that it may be constructed invarious other embodiments coming within the scope of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. The combination with a sheet pile having a portion of its edgeadapted to interlock with another sheet pile, of a guide member havingparts straddling the end of said rst-named sheet pile and having aflange extending adpile and having a part aligning with and con-"forming to the curvature of said guard portion. 3. The combination witha sheet pile, of a guide member having a pair of spaced legs to embraceopposite sides of a sheet pile and having a guide member extendinglongitudinally therefrom.

4. A guide member for sheet piling comprising a bar adapted to rest uponthe end of the sheet pile, members extending from said bar to straddlethe sheet pile on opposite sides thereof, and a guide nger projectinglongitudinally from the end of said bar to receive within it a portionof an adjacent sheet pile.

5. The combination with a sheet pile having a hook portion and a curvedguard portion at its edge, of a guide member in the form of a barresting on the end of said pile with parts thereof extending downwardlyon opposite sides of the pile and with a longitudinally extending 2Ocurved guide flange conforming to the curvature of said guard portion ofthe pile and adapted to direct the hook portion of another pile into thespace between the hook portion and the guard portion of said first namedpile.

6. The combination with a sheet pile, of a guide member comprising a baradapted to rest on the upper end of a sheet pile and having legs spacedapart to extend downwardly on opposite sides of said sheet pile, saidbar having extending longitudinally therefrom a curved guide flangeadapted toregister with an underlying part of said sheet pile.

7. The combination with a sheet pile having a hook portion and a guideportion at its edge, of a guide member mounted on the end of said pileand having a part aligning with and conforming to the shape of one ofsaid portions.

8. The combination with a sheet pile having an integral portion at itsedge adapted to interlock with a mating integral portion at the edge ofanother sheet pile, of a guide member detachably mounted on saidrst-named pile and having a part conforming to the shape of a part ofsaid integral portion of said first-named pile and adapted to be engagedby a part of the mating integral portion of the second-named pile toguide said integral portion of the secondnamed pile into interlockingengagement with the integral portion of said first-named pile.

9. The combination with a sheet pile, of a guide member having aplurality of pairs of spaced legs adapted to embrace opposite sides of asheet pile and having a guide finger extending horizontally therefromadjacent an edge of the pile.

10. 'Ihe combination with a sheet pile having a hook portion and a guideportion at its edge, of a guide member mounted on the end of said pileand having a part projecting longitudinally therefrom to a point aboveand in alignment with and conforming to the shape of one of saidportions.

AUGUST H. HAUSLER.

